Daily Yellowstone journal., 1887-04-16
MONARCHS or THE PLAINS.
4 Determined Fight for the Mastery He
tween Two Buffalo Bulls.

tween Two buhalo Bulls
The most remarkable incident in my
buffalo experience wa a fight between
two buffalo bulls over on the Cannonball
river in Dakota, and of which WAS the
sole and lucky witness. | was riding
slowly up a knoll thinking Of any thing
but butfalots. when | heard the most
awful believing and crashing just ahead,
as if all pndemonium had turned loose
to scare me out of my five senses. Ny
horse reared and plunged, but quickly
~dismounting | lariated my steed, and be-
tween creeping and crawling managed to
secure a safe observatory from which /
could view the circus then in progress.
Two powerful buffalo bulls were going il
hammer AMI tongs in furious efforts To
butt each others brains out. They had
q little arena all to themselves. the rest Ct
the herd forming a circle around. watch
ing but not interfering. but waiting 70
drive the vanquished from the field in dis
grace, Talk about your bullights in
Spain, your 1000 pound bulls battling
with little matadors. No arena of
ancient Spain, or Rome, ~ modern
N1hAN' WI lsiu WV "
combatants face To face, nor LAS the tug
OF war and the fight for mastery ever
been 80 determined and fierce rs between
thoNc two munarchs Of the plains ON the
Cannouball river. There had only been
one crash before | took my reserved seat.
but the conclusion and crack of the blow
might have been heard a mile. The fun
had only Just begun. After the first
whack the two champions sort of hacked
and eyed each other for a second crash.
Then they lowered their heads, paved
the ground yiciously for a few seconds,
and came back at each other like a pair
of freight trains coming from opposite
directions on the same track. When the
heads came together this time it was with
q dull thump which led me 10 believe one
or both craniums had been cracked on
the first round. There they stuck-the
two heads-and then both bulls began to
push with all their might. The dogged.
stubborn pushing lasted some minutes,
until the white froth began to drop in
long, tenacious strings from their lips.
and the red eyes to glare through what
appeared 10 he clotso of blood. Somebody
was hurt, for the crimson was dyeing the
white froth as it fell TO the ground. This
dead set of strength could moi last long.
The tendons were standing out like ropes
across the highs and along the thick
necks, and every moment was telling
upon the short wind and straining Of both
antagonist. Although much Of a size. |
could see that one of the bulls was an old
crusader, while the other was a young
ster, and evidently trying TO drive the old
man out Of the herd.
The old fellow foot slipped. and the
intelligence of the slight disaster seemed
To burst upon his antagonist quicker than
a flash of lightning. No gladiator ever
urged his advantage more quickly. There
was a sudden relaxation on the part Of
the young one, then a rush and a slipping
of horns upon each other. followed by a
raking, upward stroke, and the horn of
the younger bull had torn the flank Of the
older fellow from the leg along the neck
u the chin. Ii was not a fatal stroke but
an exceedingly damaging n Every
time he was attacked the patriarch Of the
herd presented his wal and weather
beaten head. but the youthful bison
caught him again and again behind the
shoulder until the blood wa pouring in a
perfect stream from the wound. With the
agony Of defeat in his eye, and growing
weaker from the loss Of blood. still the old
fellow refused % be conquered. At last.
with tongue hanging out and painting for
breath, he stood at hay, defeated and con-
quered, but still disdaining Ia retreat.
The young bull pushed and gorel him,
but he made no attempt 10 protect his
tanks, The rest Of the herd drew in
closer, snorted and shook their heads.
while the cOws who had always regarded
him as the head Of the family, spitefully
butted him in the ribs and walked away.
Some Of the young bulls gave him a con-
temptuous dig. until | thought the poor
fellow must have received a thousand
wounds.
He stood logged and defiant. whipped,
but still obstinate, and gradually the herd
wandered farther away and left him TO
himself. II was a sentence Of banish-
ment and the sentence read: To go and
live as long as he could alone and fight
his last fight with coyotes and wolves and
die. He watched the herd grow fainter
a. It wandered farther away and then
turned his gaze in the opposite direction.
Feeling his defeat keenly. without a
friend in the world. covered with blood
and disgrace. the poor old brute limred
slowly and sadly from the spot. He
dared not return to the herd-for the
COWS will gore a defeated bull Ia death
% he wandered sorrowfully across the
plains alone and disgracel. a beaten
champion. sorely wounded and about to
die. until he wa lost to view in the dis
tance and dust Of the prairie.-San Fran.
cisco Call.